Maersk: We need to act faster to break this chicken and egg limbo
These were the messages of A.P. Moller Maersk’s Executive Vice President Henriette Hallberg Thygesen during a session on climate Action Partnerships, hosted yesterday by the World Economic Forum.
“We need to move faster than we have done so far. There are already solutions that we can pursue as an industry. Therefore, we need to go from talk into an execution focus. In a debate about green fuels we often hear that we don’t have the full overview or technologically viable carbon-neutral fuels and that we need more research and development (R&D). But we do have a possible solution in sight that could have long-term viability,” she said.
Thygesen believes industry stakeholders should stop sitting on the sidelines waiting for a major breakthrough and pass on the investment in transitional fuels like LNG.
Instead, Maersk has decided to jump right into the development of zero-carbon fuels which will be long-term solutions – the first step being renewable methanol.
To remind, the liner major plans to launch the world’s first carbon-neutral liner vessel in 2023, seven years ahead of the initial 2030-ambition.
The vessel will be a methanol feeder with a capacity of around 2,000 TEU and it would be deployed in one of Maersk’s intra-regional networks.
While the vessel will be able to operate on standard VLSFO, the plan is to operate the vessel on carbon neutral e-methanol or sustainable bio-methanol from day one.
